A Mt. Airy family is homeless after fire destroyed their mobile home Wednesday afternoon.
The fire broke out at the home of Thomas and Leah Allen at 535 Savage Road shortly after 1 p.m. The Allens were not at home at the time. Their neighbor, Debbie Smith, says she heard several loud ‘booms’ and saw lightning just before she noticed the fire.
“There was a loud boom like thunder,” Smith says. “I felt the vibration on my floor. Not long after that I looked out my back door and saw the smoke.”
Smith says she then went to her front door and saw the Allen’s mobile home engulfed in flames. “It just looked like the studs. Nothing else was left. It was raining hard, but it was blazing.”
Firefighters were dispatched to the scene at 1:10 p.m. When they arrived, Habersham County Assistant Fire Chief Jason Davey says they found the approximately 1800 square foot double-wide fully involved.
“We extinguished the fire using two attack lines and were on scene until 3:40 pm.,” Davey says. The home was a total loss but Davey says firefighters did manage to rescue three dogs that were in a fenced in area next to the house.
Stations 14 (Glade Creek), 9 (Deep Creek), 13 (Habersham Mills) and 24 (LACI) responded. Davey says the LACI unit responded personnel “with a delay” from White County where they were working another fire.
READ: Lightning strikes cause two structure fires in White County
The cause of the Mt. Airy fire has not yet been determined but Davey says it’s possible it was caused by a lightning strike.
He’ll meet with investigators from the State Fire Marshal’s Office Friday or Monday to go over the scene in an effort to determine the cause.
A Go Fund Me account has been set up to assist the family. For more information on how you can help, click here.
